friskt

Friskt is a Swedish word that functions primarily as the neuter singular form of the adjective frisk, but is also used in several contexts to convey freshness, health, or vigor. In everyday language, it can describe a healthy state, as in someone who is frisk, or refer to food, water, or air that feels fresh or invigorating, as in friskt vatten or frisk luft. It is also used for weather and environmental conditions, where friskt väder or frisk luft suggests clear, refreshing air.

Grammatically, frisk agrees with the noun it modifies. Before a common-gender singular noun, the form remains frisk (en frisk person). Before a neuter singular noun, the attributive form is friskt (ett friskt barn, ett friskt vatten). Plural or feminine nouns take friska (friska människor). The basic word sometimes appears in fixed expressions and idioms related to health, freshness, or vitality, and is widely used across medical, culinary, and everyday speech.

Historically and linguistically, frisk originates in Old Norse and has cognates in Danish and Norwegian, where similar forms carry related senses of health and freshness. In Swedish, friskt and its related forms are common in medical contexts (to describe someone’s health or recovery, as in bli frisk), in descriptions of weather and environment, and in everyday descriptions of fresh-tasting foods and drinks.

See also: frisk (the root form) and related Scandinavian variants in Danish and Norwegian.